Nordic GPs to continue asset diversification

Discussing private equity trends in the Nordic region towards 2020, the panel agreed there was a trend among some Nordic private equity firms of moving in the direction of broader asset management, in the same vein as industry giants KKR and Blackstone.

The panel was comprised Søren Vestergaard-Poulsen of CVC Capital Partners, EQT's Morten Hummelmose, Kim Gulstad of Nordic Capital, Verdane Capitals's Lars B Thoresen, Argentum's Espen Langeland, and Tomas Therén of Procuritas.

In recent years, EQT in particular has expanded its fund offering to include credit and infrastructure, in addition to real estate and tech-focused venture funds launched this year.

EQT partner Hummelmose said the choice would be very different from fund to fund. "It is difficult to say the trend will be across the board – we see a number of firms do it, but some stay in their niche," he told the audience in Copenhagen.

CVC managing partner Vestergaard-Poulsen said he expected clearer segmentation between the Nordic private equity firms in the future, but there would not be space for all firms to move in that direction.

He mentioned his firm had the opportunity to diversify from pure private equity around the time other major competitors moved into the asset management space, but CVC remained private equity-focused and would likely remain so, as the US and UK asset manager "tickets" had been handed out.

Vestergaard-Poulsen predicted the Nordic region would likely see segmentation into regional funds, sectoral funds, as well as hybrids over the same themes, with the top 5-10 funds perhaps having an element of multi-asset management.

For Nordic Capital, retaining its long-standing focus has seen a positive response with investors, according to partner Guldstad, who said the topic was often raised when speaking to LPs.

Argentum senior investment director Langeland said the fund-of-funds manager was concerned about the trend, echoing the sentiments of his CEO at the unquote" Nordic Private Equity Conference earlier this year.

Langeland said he sees the trend throughout Europe and the Nordic region, but there was occassionally an element of GPs raising these different fund types because they can, which he said raised concerns at Argentum: "If we want to invest in one fund and we don't know how they're incentivised and where the focus is.. it may have more cons than pros," he concluded.

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• Topics
• Nordics
• GPs
• Nordic Outlook
• Denmark
• DVCA
• CVC Capital Partners
• EQT
• Verdane Capital Partners
• Argentum
• Nordic Capital
• Procuritas
• Ernst & Young